The Effect of High Antioxidant Cacao on Behaviors in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

May 13, 2021 updated by: Loma Linda University
The purpose of this study is to determine if routine consumption of high antioxidant cacao can have an effect on the behaviors of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. This is proposed as children with Autism Spectrum Disorder have elevated oxidative stress markers, such as, free radicals making them highly vulnerable to oxidative damage. Thus, it is proposed that foods high in antioxidant activity can offer protection against oxidative stress and thus impact behaviors.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Terminated

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Subjects will include both males and females with an age range between 5 and 18 years. Study will include subjects from any race or ethnicity that meet eligibility criteria. Inclusion criteria: children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, are between the ages of 5 and 18, and like 70% dark chocolate. Exclusion criteria: Food allergies, Caffeine hypersensitivity, Theobromine hypersensitivity, History of seizures or epilepsy, Developmental age < 24 months, and Diabetics. The target study population is school aged children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Participants will be recruited using snowballing and judgmental sampling via word-of-mouth, flyers, emails, and social media with a $50.00 gift card offered for participants who complete the study in full and $15.00 gift card for teachers who complete study in full. Flyers will be distributed throughout the Southern California area due to proximity, however, participants may come from any region if satisfying inclusion criteria and time commitment. Flyers will be placed in, but not limited to, common public places such as local community centers, pediatric therapy clinics, pediatricians' offices, churches, schools, and more. The principal student researcher or appropriate PhD committee personnel will acquire email addresses of potential participants. Specific social media outlets will include postings on, but not limited to, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The name of the principal investigator and contact information of the student researcher will be available on the flyer with an invitation to contact researchers with any questions about the study. Families of those children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder will be offered a flyer to determine if they are interested in participating in the study. The informed consent process will be facilitated by the student researcher with the parents of the child with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder. The informed consent process will take place at a location of convenience for parents who will be provided fifteen minutes for decision making and discussion. Due to the subjects' impaired decision making capacity, the parents will provide consent on their behalf. HIPPA compliance forms will be included with informed consent process. Privacy of medical and research records will be secured in a locked cabinet in a locked office.Procedures are listed as follows:

  1. Informed Consent and HIPPA documents.
  2. Subject will also be offered a taste testing of the chocolate bar to be used in the study as liking the 70% dark chocolate is part of inclusion criteria.
  3. After consent is provided, parent will fill out the Youth & Adolescent Food Frequency Questionnaire based on their child's typical dietary habits, an Autism Spectrum Rating Scale, an Aberrant Behavior Checklist, and the Parental Stress Index Questionnaire.
  4. Student researcher will prepare doses (4 squares per dose or 8 grams) of the dark chocolate for each child in one week increments at a time. The dark chocolate will be wrapped in foil to protect against light and kept in a sealed Ziploc bag to prevent against oxidation in order to maintain the cacao's integrity.
  5. Student researcher will meet with each parent/family once per week to collect any questionnaires and to deliver the dark chocolate doses for the subsequent weeks.
  6. Student researcher will meet with teachers at baseline, end of week two, and end of week four to collect all questionnaires.
  7. Subject will consume 4 squares of the dark chocolate twice daily between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
  8. Student researcher will contact parents and teachers weekly via phone/email to follow up on administration of the chocolate.
  9. Parent and primary school teacher will fill out the Autism Spectrum Rating Scale and the Aberrant Behavior Checklist at the end of week two and at the end of week four.
  10. Parent will fill out the Parental Stress Index Questionnaire at the end of week four.

Research analysis plan will include non-parametric statistics. For the pre-test and post-test analysis of the Parental Stress Index scale Friedman's test will be used. For all other repeated measures such as the Aberrant Behavior Checklist and the Autism Spectrum Rating Scale the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test will be used.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
16

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Loma Linda, California, United States, 92505
        • Loma Linda University Health

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

4 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, are between the ages of 4 and 18, and like 70% dark chocolate.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Food allergies, Caffeine hypersensitivity, Theobromine hypersensitivity, History of seizures or epilepsy, Developmental age < 24 months, and Diabetics.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Cacao group
1 group of subjects will all receive the high antioxidant cacao bars. 4 squares of the dark chocolate will be administered twice daily between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Dietary supplement: Dark Chocolate
Dark Chocolate bars with 70% cacao and 30% organic cane sugar where 4 squares of the dark chocolate will be administered twice daily between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily for four weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Aberrant Behavior Checklist 2nd Edition
Time Frame: Change in subscale scores over the four weeks.
This is a valid and reliable tool that is made up of 58 questions comprised of 5 main content areas: Irritability; Social Withdrawal; Stereotypic Behavior, Hyperactivity Non Compliance, and Inappropriate Speech.
Change in subscale scores over the four weeks.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Loma Linda University

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Study Chair: Lee Berk, DrPH, Loma Linda University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
November 14, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
April 1, 2018

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
April 1, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
June 20, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 20, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
June 22, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
June 2, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 13, 2021

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
May 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 5170206

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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